


Coming to an Understanding

by violasarecool



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-11 15:16:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7057750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violasarecool/pseuds/violasarecool
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>pearl often finds it difficult to understand what's going through amethyst's head, but she tries her best, and hopefully that's enough</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coming to an Understanding

"Amethyst!" Pearl's voice echoed around the crystal-lined cave. "Have you taken one of my swords again? I can't find it anywhere!"

Amethyst rolled her eyes. "What would I want with one of your dumb swords?" she called back. She kicked at a discarded basketball, and it crashed into a pile of boxes. "Strike!" she crowed, pumping her fist in the air.

"Amethyst, I'm serious!"

"Uh huh." She stooped to pick up the basketball, then set it on her arm, rolling it from shoulder to shoulder. "Maybe you should take better care of your stuff instead of bugging me when it falls down into my room."

There was a splash, then squelching footsteps. "I take good care of my possessions, thank you _very_ much," Pearl said, picking her way over. "Unlike _some_ people."

"Uh, what are you doing in my room, I didn't invite you here." Amethyst shot her a dirty look.

"I'm _looking_ for the sword that you took," Pearl said. She picked up an empty suitcase, barely glancing at it before tossing it behind her.

"Oh my god, you can't just barge in here every time you lose something," Amethyst complained. "Hey!" she screeched as Pearl tossed a coconut against a stack of chairs and pot plants, sending the whole pile crashing to the ground.

Pearl sighed. "Sorry, but this wouldn't be so difficult if you'd just clean your―"

"It's fine!" Amethyst growled. "Just stop touching things, you're going to ruin my whole _system!"_

Pearl sniffed, and let the plastic figurine she was examining drop to the ground. "Come on, Amethyst, I'd hardly call this a system, it's a jumble of somewhat related things at best." She pursed her lips, thinking. "If you moved some of this junk over, though, we could have a stack of boxes over there, goodness knows you have enough of them, and―"

"Will you stop!" Amethsy roared. Pearl took a step back, looking uncertain.

"I'm only trying to help―"

"Yeah, that's the problem! You go around trying to fix everything like it's gonna ruin your life if everyone else isn't as perfect as you!" She stepped closer to Pearl, hands balled at her sides. "I don't need you to _fix_ me, Pearl." Pearl stared as Amethyst span around. "I'm going for a walk," she muttered, hopping over several piles of junk as the door slid open, light spilling in from the house.

Pearl blinked, mouth open, then unfroze, all at once. "Amethyst, wait!" she called, jumping forward, running after her as the door closed. Seconds later it popped open again, and Pearl caught a glimpse of purple hair as the front door slammed shut. Garnet, standing in the kitchen with Steven, looked up from the piece of toast she was buttering. Pearl shrank under Garnet's scrutiny.

"Hey, Pearl!" Steven said. "Where'd Amethyst go? Did something happen?"

"Garnet! Steven!" she stuttered, "What are you two making? Is that toast? Wow, that looks, um, really delicious." She laughed nervously.

Garnet stared at her, expressionless. "Talk to her," she said.

"I―" Pearl looked down, rubbing her arm uncomfortably. "Ok. Fine." As she stepped outside, she heard Steven whisper "are they fighting?" followed by a shushing sound by Garnet. The door banged shut behind her, and she shuddered. "Amethyst?" she called, scanning the beach as she descended the steps. She quickly checked the area around the front of the cliff, but other than a small crab that snapped its pincers at her as she peered over a pile of rocks, there was no one around.

A brisk walk past the beach and through town didn't yield any more results. Clusters of people were scattered around town exchanging news, but Pearl was sure she would have seen Amethyst if she was there.

Before giving up, she decided to try asking Greg. "Not that he'll know anything," she muttered under her breath. She stopped in front of the car wash, where he sat in a lawn chair, reading the newspaper. She cleared her throat.

"Huh?" He looked up. "Oh, uh, hi Pearl! What brings you over here?" A look of concern crossed his face. "Is something wrong? Are the gems okay? Is it Steven?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that," Pearl said breezily, "they're fine, everything's fine, nothing to worry about. I was just looking for Amethyst, have you seen her?"

Greg frowned. "Yeah, I did, actually. She didn't look very happy, but when I asked what was wrong she just said she was fine, and ran off."

"Ah. Do you know where she went went?"

"It kind of looked like she was heading toward the empty warehouse? But don't quote me on it."

"Right." Pearl turned, and started to go.

"Pearl, wait," he said, and she stopped. "She might not want to be found right now."

"What?" She turned back. "Don't be ridiculous. If she didn't want to be found, she would have used a warp pad."

"Maybe..." Greg scratched the back of his head. "People―gems? Is people just for humans, or gems too?"

"People is fine."

"Ok. Uh, anyway, what I'm trying to say is they don't always think logically when they're upset.

Pearl frowned. "Hmm. Well thank you for the advice, but I think I still need to talk to her, even if she's hiding."

"You know best," Greg said, watching with slight concern as she started off for the warehouse.

As the warehouse loomed gradually larger in front of her, every step further up the hill made it harder for Pearl to to think clearly, the image of Amethyst's furious face ironed into her memory. If Amethyst refused to speak to her―she didn't know how to complete that thought.

She walked slowly into the darkened building. "Amethyst?" she called, peering into the shadows. There was a scuffing sound from not too far off, then movement, and she could just about make out Amethyst's hunched form on the concrete floor.

"What do you want??" Amethyst spat, and Pearl flinched, hands shaking.

"Amethyst, I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't realize it would upset you―"

"Going through my stuff? Uh, yeah."

Pearl sighed. "I won't do it again, I promise."

"Right," Amethyst huffed.

Pearl watched her silently for a moment, hands twisted together. She glanced at the exit, wondering if she should just leave. Amethyst gave a loud sniff. "You don't need to be fixed," Pearl said, the words leaving her mouth almost as soon as they came into her brain. "I wasn't... I'm not trying to 'fix' you, there's nothing wrong with you."

Amethyst said nothing, her face turned away so Pearl couldn't see her expression.

"I just... get frustrated, sometimes," Pearl said, "you go about things so differently from me, and I find it hard to understand. But that's not a bad thing," she added, her voice getting stronger, "remember when we were fighting those feline gem beasts? I was so annoyed that our gem weapons weren't working, but you just brought the whole cliff down on them! That was such a brilliant idea, I would have _never_ thought of it!"

"It _was_ pretty good," Amethyst said, turning her head slightly, and now Pearl could see her swollen eyes, her runny nose, the small smile under a curtain of hair.

 Pearl took a couple steps forward, knelt on the concrete floor beside Amethyst. "I'm sorry I went into your room without asking, and I'm sorry for not listening when you told me to stop touching your possessions. Can... can you forgive me?"

Amethyst rubbed a hand across her face. "I guess I can let it slide. Just this once."

"Thank you," Pearl said.

Amethyst looked at Pearl, considering her. Then, she flung her arms around her, and Pearl gasped as the air was squeezed out of her by Amethyst's tight grip. "You're lucky I'm such a nice person," Amethyst muttered.

_Yes, I really am,_ Pearl thought.

They sat in silence for a moment, the air somewhat stale in the empty building. Then, Amethyst untangled herself and climbed to her feet with a sigh. "Guess we should go back before Steven thinks we've been eaten by a giant shark or something."

Pearl smiled, and stood up. "I don't think he would think that, there aren't even any _small_ sharks around here, let alone giant ones."

They walked out onto the hill, and began their descent. "What about at the bottom of the ocean? There's _tons_ of sharks down there, and eels, ooh, and giant squid!"

"Please don't mention any of that to Steven," Pearl said, wincing.

"Aw, I'm sure he knows already, he's a smart kid."

"Hm." Pearl looked at Amethyst, brow furrowed.

"What's that look for?" she asked, but Pearl didn't respond. "Hey, earth to P."

"Sorry, what did you say?" Pearl shook her head, trying to clear it.

"I _said_ , what's that look for?"

Pearl gave her a fond smile. "I'm just glad we're not fighting any more."

"Phht, don't say that too loud," Amethyst joked, "we'll be covered in gem monsters before you can say that thing Steven says about hot dogs. If pigs were porkers? If people were pastries?"

"I meant fighting with _you,"_ Pearl said.

"Well you didn't think I'd leave you to fight them all alone, didja?"

"No, I―" Pearl covered her face with one hand. "You really are the worst, sometimes," she said, but she smiled.

Amethyst grinned back at her. "Flatterer."

**Author's Note:**

> this has been sitting incomplete in evernote for almost a _year_ (until i finished it yesterday, it was the oldest wip in my folder). reading through some parts it's pretty obvious how old it is; while im still proud of the dialogue, i think my description has gotten better since then.


End file.
